


Upended

by itsmewhitney



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, appearances from other characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22676953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmewhitney/pseuds/itsmewhitney
Summary: Hange and Levi accidentally switch bodies.
Relationships: Hange Zoë/Levi
Comments: 72
Kudos: 226





	1. Chapter 1

“Dammit,” Hange growled, forcefully crumpling the sheet of paper she was just working on. She then tossed it violently to join the others in the overflowing wastebasket on the opposite end of the lab. It landed squarely on the pile- this small victory her only consolation. The many others that littered the basket’s perimeter served as a growing reminder of her failures.

She dropped her head in defeat, running a frustrated hand through her knotted, greasy hair. The sound of Sawney squealing made her look up. The brown and white hamster was up on its hind legs staring at her through the glass enclosure with those distinctive, beady, black eyes. She always seemed to sense when something was amiss, unlike Bean, who now lounged unperturbed on the Aspen bedding in the opposite cage.

“Hi Sawney,” Hange began. Sawney’s tiny ears perked up at the sound, and she continued to stare intently at Hange.

“Still trying to figure out how to return you to your original body, though I’m afraid Bean has already fattened you up,” Hange continued, eyeing the protuberant belly of Bean as it rose and fell.

It had been over six months since she begun experimenting with soul transposition. What had started out as a hobby- a wild idea she concocted in order to pass the summer vacation having grown tired of pool parties and beach runs- soon became much more. That summer, in a book entitled, “The Scientific Theory of the Soul”, she had read that the presence of the soul in any living entity is indicated by consciousness, and so theorized that subjects would need to be unconscious during the transposition procedure for their souls to leave their bodies. Sleep, she reasoned, would be inadequate, but a strong sedative could render the subject more deeply unconscious, better prompting the soul to leave the body. To further enhance this, she decided on simultaneously simulating an out of body experience. There were many ways to do this, but drug induced seemed the most practical, and was the most within her meager resources. Whether it would work and whether the souls, even after exiting their respective bodies, would transpose into the opposite ones, was left up to her experimentation and a bit up to chance.

She developed a solution– an elixir that once exposed to the atmosphere would vaporize, facilitating inhalation. Its active window was calculated to be 3-4 hours. Her first subjects were Bean, the brown and white Syrian hamster, and Sawney, the black and white one. Bean was always extremely lazy, weighing almost twice that of Sawney, and liked to spend his time munching on feed or lazing around, while Sawney was excitable, and would stay active on the running wheel.

Hange’s first attempts at transposition had been utter failures. She then spent several grueling months tweaking the mixture to what she thought was perfection, but even then, she had to depend on chance to introduce the souls to the opposite bodies, thereby completing the switch. Two weeks earlier, she had been successful, and now, as Bean’s original body lost weight, Sawney’s original body blew up. The only problem was accomplishing the reverse. A repeat of the transposition should have worked, but to her growing frustration, it did not. She was at her wit’s end, and today, like most days in the last week, was spent manically trying and failing to come up with a solution.

The beeping of her phone signaled an incoming text, and she ran her hand through Sawney’s soft fur one last time before turning away. It was from Levi; one of her best friends, a confidante, and her roommate.

_Have you finally blown yourself up?_

A smile played on Hange's lips as she stared at the words on the screen but it was quickly replaced by a frown when she noticed the time. 12:05 AM. Levi must have been concerned. She quickly tapped out a reply and started collecting her things. She would be at home all day working on a paper, and so decided to take some samples of the elixir with her. She planned to continue her experiments from the makeshift lab in their shared apartment (if the desk off to one corner of her bedroom could really be called that). Dragging heavy feet across the room, she exited the lab.

=

Levi heard shuffling just beyond the door to the apartment, and a few minutes later Hange emerged from the entryway. Her brown hair was a disarray, and even behind the lens of her glasses, he could make out the dark circles surrounding her eyes and providing the only colour on her face. Her movements were sluggish, and her usual friendly face was pulled into a frown.

“You look like shit,” Levi offered, eyeing her from his perch on the couch.

“I feel like shit,” Hange replied, as she placed her bags on the coffee table, much to Levi’s annoyance.

“I just can’t seem to get them to switch back,” she sighed. “I’m just so tired.” She continued her lamentations as she moved towards the couch, finally plopping herself right down on the dark-haired shorty.

Levi was quick to react, pushing her off him and onto the floor. Hange landed with a soft thud followed by a groan, but seemed content to stay there for the rest of the night.

“You also smell like shit,” Levi remarked, shaking his head.

Her only reply was incoherent mumbles as she promptly drifted off to sleep. Levi looked on, both amazed and disgusted. He trudged off to her room and seconds later returned with a blanket which he draped over the length of her body. He removed her glasses and placed them on the adjacent coffee table. Despite her obvious dark circles, he found himself thinking she looked beautiful. He quickly dispelled the thought and went to bed himself.

=

2:00 AM

Hange rolled over, moving closer to the coffee table. She reflexively reached out to adjust the covers as a chill wafted through the apartment. In the process, her hand was accidentally caught in the dangling straps of one of the bags resting on the coffee table. As she yanked the covers close, the bag fell to the floor, taking with it the pouch containing the samples of the elixir. The sound of the glass vials shattering filled the living room, but Hange was none the wiser.

Their liquid contents quickly evaporated and the aerosol particles filled the apartment, inconspicuously infiltrating the airways of their prey.

=

The light filtering through the slits in the curtains filled the living room, illuminating every object in its path. Unfortunately, that meant Levi.

After a while, he succumbed, reluctantly opening his eyes as he sat up. His limbs felt stiff and his back ached from a long night on the hard, wooden floor. Wait, why was he on the floor? He remembered tucking Hange in then heading to bed himself. Had the crazy bastard put him there? Possible, but unlikely. She was knocked out cold. And what was that _smell_?

The room around him was a blur- he could just make out the outlines of objects surrounding him. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision but to no avail. He decided a splash of water was what he needed, but as he threw the covers from his body, his hands brushed against the unfamiliar mounds on his chest. This gave him pause. He looked down then, and even with his poor vision, could make out the unmistakable shape of breasts. His hands reached up to confirm their existence and despite how good and soft they felt, the sudden realization that he had breasts – Hange’s breasts nevertheless, given the clothes he was wearing – had him frantically on his feet and in search of the first reflective surface he could find.

The toaster in the kitchen reflected Hange’s face and the dumbstruck expression perfectly mirrored what Levi was feeling. He returned to the living room area, grabbing her glasses from the coffee table where he had left them the night before. The sudden sharpness in his vision was disconcerting. He had to confront Hange. He was headed in the direction of her room, but realization struck, turning him on his course. Now, he made his way to his own bedroom.

=

Hange awoke to the sound of her own voice calling out to her. Was she dreaming? Was this an out of body experience? When she opened her eyes, she was faced with an exact replica of herself – long limbs, brown disheveled hair, and the same outfit she sported yesterday. Except, this version wore an expression she hardly ever used herself: anger. Her face was twisted in such a way that it reminded her of Levi.

“Hange!” her replica barked, “What the hell did you do?”

“What are you-” Huh. This was not her voice. She tried again, “I don’t know…” The voice had not changed, although she was fairly certain now to whom it belonged.

With growing suspicion, she finally made a cursory sweep over her surroundings. The clean sheets and the lack of clothes and books strewn over every surface available only worsened her trepidation. This was not her room. This was Levi’s.

A hand through her short hair and one look down confirmed her fears. Her eyes locked on his in that moment.

“Oh my God.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hange and Levi as they slowly come to terms with the situation.

“Hange, what the fuck did you do?” Levi repeated.

Hange couldn’t hear him. Her mind was in hyperdrive, neurons firing crazily as she tried to process what was happening. She mentally recounted her steps from the night before trying to pinpoint the exact moment things had gone awry. She had come home exhausted and had fallen asleep on the floor. _“What had I been doing before falling asleep?”_ she pondered. She recalled placing her bags on the coffee table but struggled to remember anything else… “ _The bags! They had the vials!”_ her mind screamed. As the memory resurfaced, Hange shot up from the bed, hurriedly making her way past a confused Levi, and into the living room. She could hear him following directly behind.

\--

Hange spotted the pouch lying underneath the coffee table and immediately reached out a hand to retrieve it. The pain was immediate as a shard of glass pierced her smooth flesh. “Fuck!” she bellowed, reflexively dropping the bag unto the floor. She examined her palm where a tiny pool of red was already surfacing, instinctively putting her mouth to the cut to ebb the flow. It was only when she looked up to the bewildered expression plastered on her _own_ face, did she realise what she had done.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to suck on your palm, but…” she paused, eyebrows furrowing in thought. “Well, I did mean to, but I thought it was _mine_.”

Levi forced himself to ignore any alternative connotations to her words. “Why would you even do that in general?” he asked reproachfully.

“To stop the bleeding and conserve iron,” Hange explained simply. “Your small body would have probably bled out if I hadn’t done that, so you should be thanking me actually.”

“I should kill you actually. What the fuck happened?” He couldn’t seem to infuse as much vitriol as he wanted with Hange’s voice, which only added to his mounting annoyance.

“Ahh shit,” Hange began, seeming to remember the scale and calamity of their situation. She crouched down to recover the pouch, careful to hold it by its handle this time. She registered faint clanking sounds as she held it out to Levi. “The vials broke. In them was the elixir I was working on. I-I should have never brought them back here.” She started pacing the small room, hands clutching at her short hair in frustration. She thought about Sawney and Bean, and her endless futile attempts at a solution. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she whimpered. She turned to Levi who seemed to be silently contemplating their situation.

“Why are you not angrier with me?” she asked frantically. “Is my normal psyche somehow interacting with yours?” The jolt of excitement at the possibility of new revelations for her project distracted her momentarily but was quickly replaced by her growing dread. “Or is it that you forgot what I told you last night?” she asked, apprehension unmistakable in her voice.

He had been thinking about that. In fact, from the moment it was certain they had switched bodies, their conversation from the night before kept replaying in his mind, her words a haunting echo, incessantly reverberating off the walls of his skull.

“ _I just can’t seem to get them to switch back_.”

“Levi, I-,” she hesitated, searching for the words.

He tried to think of other times he had seen Hange this afraid but could not recall any. The weight of their situation was taking its toll on her and he could see it in her sagged shoulders and her bowed head. Likewise, he had never seen that expression on _his_ face before and he found himself feeling more unsettled than amused. But despite his discombobulation and irritation at their current situation, he couldn’t help but feel for her. Hange’s distress was palpable and was as equally disconcerting to him as staring at himself from her body. Plus, as fucked up as it was, he had company to share in his misery.

“Unless that massive head of yours is simply for show, I’m sure you’d find a solution,” he began, trying to be as reassuring as he could muster. “You can be pretty smart for someone so incredibly dumb.” He could tell he was getting through to her as she started visibly relaxing. “Now, quit moping, and let’s figure out how we’re going to do this. And stop ruining my posture with all that damn slouching.”

She smiled at him then and his revulsion has immediate. He could taste the sharp tang of acid at the back of his throat as he struggled not to throw up at the sight. “Don’t do that,” he warned sternly.

“Do what?” Hange asked, a convincing expression of confusion on her face. She followed her words with the widest grin she could muster and was quick enough to dodge the throw pillow that came flying her way. She started laughing, bracing herself for the barrage of pillows she knew would follow. She had just gotten hit a second time and was clutching her mid-section, caught in paroxysms of laughter, when she suddenly stopped.

“What?” Levi asked, hand poised to throw another pillow.

“I need to pee,” Hange responded horrified.

The horror in his own expression was muted, but on the inside, his trepidation was resurging with the intensity of a volcano ready to erupt. He suddenly felt hot. If he had had thoughts of Hange seeing him naked before, this was definitely not what he had envisioned.

“Is it necessary?” he asked, knowing fully well how ridiculous he sounded. He was trying his best to stall but there was no conceivable way to avoid this fate, he quickly realised. As much as he wished it, Hange could not possibly hold out for as long as it would take her to find a solution. But how long would that be? How long would he be trapped in her body and she in his? He was suddenly acutely aware of Hange’s breasts rising steadily as he breathed. This was not good, he concluded for the umpteenth time that day.

“Can’t. I already peed a little while I was laughing,” Hange responded sheepishly. The glare Levi shot her was even more hilarious expressed on _her_ face than it would have been on his and almost set her off laughing again. “I promise I won’t watch.”

“Are you planning to paint the walls in fucking piss, shittybrain?” Levi began. “We can’t avoid this. Just don’t talk about this going forward. And I swear to God Hange, you better shower me at least two times a day.”

“Two?” Hange responded incredulously. “I can’t make any promises.”

“I’ll make sure you do,” Levi returned with a scowl.

“Fine. Well, at least you’ve bathed me before and have seen me naked or near it countless of times,” she said with a shrug.

“I _helped_ bathe you,” he corrected, recalling the instance. She had been sick and was too weak to do much on her own. He would have let her go the day without showering, reserving his usual badgering for another day, but plans promptly changed when Hange vomited all over herself. That was only one of the occasions in which he had seen her naked. The woman had a habit of forgetting to take a towel with her to the bathroom and would often be seen as a brown blur as she made a dash for her bedroom. Unsurprisingly, she slipped and fell one day, and it was that incident, along with the constant mess of water on their floor, that ultimately moved him to stash an emergency towel on the rack next to the sink.

“Same thing,” she said hastily. Her knees were buckled, and her hands were pressed to her lower abdomen. “I can’t take it anymore,” she said as she ran in the direction of the bathroom.

“Take a shower while you’re at it!” Levi shouted at her retreating back.

\--

Hange tried not to think about what she was doing. She had seen countless anatomical diagrams of the male specimen and had even worked closely with cadavers. This would be fine, she reassured herself. She pulled down the sweatpants, fully anticipating another layer of cloth, but was instead met with raw, unfiltered nudity. She gasped at the sight before her, eyes darting away like she had just done something wrong. She didn’t want to address why she made this out to be such a big deal when her approach to the male anatomy was usually nothing but apathy. She would analyse her feelings one day, but today wasn’t the day, she decided.

She steeled herself and looked down again. Where Levi was short, he certainly made up for in other areas, she thought. She focused on the task of urinating, ignoring the feel of the shaft in her hand as she held it loosely. When she was finished, she begrudgingly stepped into the shower. She had contemplated skipping it altogether but reasoned that a kick from Levi was likely more powerful in her larger body he now inhabited.

As the water fell around her, she reflected on their predicament. While she was relieved that Levi was as accepting as he had been, she knew the situation was an uncomfortable one, especially given its indefinite end. The what ifs scared her. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to focus on finding a solution rather than worrying that there might not be one. Levi had faith in her and she decided she’d do her best not to let him down. When she was finished with her shower, she reached for the towel rack absently, only to come up empty-handed.

“Shit,” she whispered as realization dawned. She stepped out of the enclosure, turning to the rack next to the sink in search of the emergency towel. It was there as it had always been, and she mentally thanked Levi. As she stepped out of the bathroom, the sweet smell of food cooking set off loud grumbling noises in her stomach. She saw Levi working at the stove as she peeked into the kitchen area.

“I put clothes on your bed,” he said, back still to her.

“But I wanted to wear a dress today,” Hange said with a pout.

“Do you even own a dress?” Levi retorted.

“Touché.”

Hange made her way to her bedroom, the thought of devouring a bowl of cereal and milk quickening her pace as she dressed. She made her way back to the kitchen just as Levi was plating an omelette. She was about to reach for a box of Fruitloops when a firm hand stopped her.

“You’re not putting that shit in my body,” Levi stated blandly, holding out a plate with an omelette in his next hand. “I made one for you.”

“You see Levi, that’s the reason why you’re always so grumpy. You don’t eat nearly as much sugar as you should. I’m just trying to help you. Trust me,” Hange replied, hand straining against his as she continued to reach for the box of cereal. Levi tightened his grip on her in response. “Damn, I didn’t realize my body was that strong,” she said, relaxing her hand as she gave up on her attempts.

“I just wield strength better. Anyway, sit your ass down,” he instructed.

Hange did as she was told. The omelette did not have nearly as much sugar as she would’ve liked, but she ate on regardless. Levi had filled it with so many vegetables that it could hardly be called an omelette anymore. _“Vegetables with a dash of egg”_ was a more appropriate term in her books.

“With respect to school,” Levi started. “Don’t worry about understanding anything, simply take notes and we’d exchange them back here. Anything else, I could message colleagues about. Just lay low.”

“What about our friends?” Hange asked. “Should we tell them?”

Levi deliberated this internally before finally saying, “They’d want to ask too many dumb questions. You know them. Like my dick size, for one.”

“But you have a nice dick,” Hange blurted out thoughtlessly. “I mean…objectively of course. It’s a good size and all that,” she said quickly in an attempt to correct herself. From his grimace, she could tell that he was uncomfortable. But wait, was that a _smirk?_ Whatever it was left his face as quickly as it had come.

“So no, no telling friends for now. It’s easier that way,” Levi restated. “I guess I’ll have to go with you to the lab as well, so no suspicions are raised.”

“Again, I’m really sorry about all this,” Hange said as she pondered all the inconveniencies in store for them. “On the bright side, you get to finally see the world from a normal height, shorty.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Levi retorted. “Enjoy Economics. I know how much you love it.”

Hange groaned at the thought of sitting through endless business lectures. If she lacked the confidence for turning them back, this at least gave her the motivation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I took the longest time to update this but I didn't realise how difficult it would be to write these two as they interact in opposite bodies. Hope it wasn't terrible lol
> 
> As always, feedback/criticisms appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi and Hange's friends react to their new personas.

There was something off about Hange, Moblit decided as he settled into the stool beside her. No, several things were off about the brunette. Her usually messy hair was pulled into an immaculate bun and the sky-blue t-shirt she donned was missing its standard array of wrinkles, so much so that it almost appeared _ironed_? Strange, he thought. Based on his past observations, he had concluded a long time ago that Hange did not own an iron. Now, he wondered if she had just chosen not to use it. The changes to her appearance were small, but their impact was significant. From the doorway, he was sure the woman sitting in Hange’s self-designated spot was a stranger. But no, the person now glaring at him atop the adjacent stool was certainly Hange… _right_? He had been staring too long, he realised a little too late, but could only continue his gaping, even more confused now at the annoyance plastered on her face. He had seldom seen Hange look this angry.

“What?” she barked, still glaring.

“I - uh,” he stammered, “you look different.”

Hange rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the front as Professor Pixis entered, and so she remained for the rest of the class, diligently taking notes and never once interrupting Prof Pixis with her usual barrage of questions. This too struck Moblit as odd; Hange normally could not shut up. He was tempted to probe and was about to try, but her flat stare and defensive posture dissuaded him. Why had an image of Levi popped into his head just then? he wondered. He would try again at another time, but for now, he could only hope she was okay.

\--

“Shit,” Hange cursed between laboured breaths as she sprinted through the halls, shoes clamoring loudly against the porcelain. “Shit, shit, shit,” she repeated, ignoring the mildly curious stares of the other students she whizzed past. The minute hand on her wristwatch was approaching 3; she was late. She should not have been, given the time she woke up, but she also should not have been in Levi’s body, which apparently required way too much self-care for what it was worth. Yeah, the guy was handsome, but were all those creams and lotions necessary? She had never felt this _moist_. He had written a comprehensive list of steps for her to follow and had stuck it to their bathroom mirror. By the time she was done, he had already left.

Without his overbearing supervision, she was free to skip breakfast and decided to make a quick detour to the lab to check on Sawney and Bean. She had made no progress the night before, and thought a visit to her subjects, rather than sugarless oats prepared earlier by Levi, would give her some much needed inspiration. In the end, all her visit managed to do was serve as a reminder that life did not always go the way one wanted it to, and how many of such reminders had she received in recent times? Too many to count. There had been no inspiration, no eureka, and now she was late.

Turning the corner to the back entrance of the amphitheater, she almost collided with someone already leaving the 8AM lecture. Likely fed up with economics, she surmised. With a quick apology and a deeply empathetic smile, she bounded the stairs. As she crested the platform at the back of the theatre, her eyes quickly scanned the nearest rows of seats for an available one, and as deftly as was possible, she slinked into an empty space next to a petite girl with honey-coloured hair and bright eyes. Levi could not have been much taller than she was. The girl turned her head toward the sounds of movement to her left and as their eyes connected, blood instantaneously pooled in her cheeks, giving them a rosy hue. How cute, Hange thought, and gave her a toothy grin in response.

A kaleidoscope of emotions flashed across the girl’s face then; Hange could recognize shock, fear, and finally affection. She made a mental note to try harder to suppress smiles lest she scare everyone to death. She was Levi, after all, and the grump rarely did smile. Even when they had first met as teenagers through their mutual friend Erwin, he had been stoic. She initially thought his apathy was a pubertal manifestation and that he would eventually grow out of it, but to her surprise, he did not. Thinking about it now, she should have known as much, especially if his stunted height was any indication of his propensity to grow.

Since then, she had made it her mission to get him to laugh. There was something so deeply satisfying about its guttural tone and she could get lost in the peaks and dips of its melody. Throughout the years, she had tried jokes:

“Knock knock,” she’d begin.

“No one is home,” he’d reply.

And that would be the end of that.

She had even tried tickles, which astonishingly worked, but with his inhumane strength, Levi would quickly get the upper hand, and since Hange herself was extremely ticklish, she promptly deemed this route to not be worth the torture.

With time, she had learned that his laughter would often come at her expense. He had laughed when she tripped, slipped, burned herself, accidentally bleached a portion of her hair, and the like. Fortunately for the much-desired preservation of her body, there was one other tried and true way to get him to at least smile. It was not one that she exploited given her realization that she enjoyed it significantly more when the interaction was genuine from both sides. Levi would often smile when she talked about her work ecstatically and would sometimes even laugh when she laughed too. She was sure he was not aware of this; she had not mentioned it and did not plan to.

As she struggled through the lecture, she began to wonder how Levi was faring with his, but her concern quickly shifted to Moblit, who she was positive was having a much harder time. She giggled at the thought, earning her another shocked gaze from the girl (whose name, during the course of the lecture, she’d learn, or rather relearn, was Petra, and that she, Levi, and some others had worked on a group assignment previously). Stopping her laughter short, Hange thought to herself, this not having emotions thing was not going to be easy.

\--

“Where is Levi?” Erwin asked to no one in particular before taking another bite of his turkey sandwich. He was sitting at one of the wooden tables in the cafeteria, along with Hange, Nanaba, Moblit, and Mike.

Mike sniffed at the air. “According to my intel, he is sitting beside me,” he said, turning to Hange with raised eyebrows.

“Ran out of bodywash. Used Levi’s,” she responded, unfazed. Erwin could see that the lack of enthusiasm in her voice did not go unnoticed by the rest of the group. The all stared at her quizzically, but Hange ignored them all. Since earlier, he had noticed that she seemed different with both her physical appearance and her mannerisms giving him pause. Plus, she had been early to lunch and, for the first time since he could remember, was not eating a granola bar. These things were all so unlike Hange. She looked more composed and calmer now, and less like the hyperactive woman he was used to. And while she could at times use some sedation (Levi often threatened to inject her with midazolam), this version of her did not sit right with him, so he decided to ask about the one thing he knew would get her animated.

“How is your experiment coming along?”

A groan.

“Ah, I see,” he responded, deciding to not prod further. Maybe her mind was preoccupied with the poor progress of the experiment. The last he heard, she was still having a difficult time switching the hamsters back to their original bodies. Still, Hange was usually able to separate her experiments from other aspects of her life when she needed to.

Just then, Levi came bounding over to their table and plopped himself next to Nanaba so that he was vis-à-vis with Hange.

“We tried calling you,” Nanaba said as a way of greeting.

Levi touched his hand to his pants pocket, feeling for his phone. “I didn’t recei-” An expression of pain flickered across his face briefly and the following glare that passed from Hange to Levi was a curious thing to Erwin. The combination was all wrong. It was usually the other way around.

“I didn’t hear it,” Levi corrected.

“Hmmm,” Erwin replied. The remainder of their lunch passed uneventfully, but Erwin paid close attention to the two. He had an absurd idea about what might be going on, but it couldn’t be, _right?_

\--

Hange had planned to spend her evening at the lab with Levi in tow for appearances sake, but when she checked her phone after barely surviving the final business lecture of the day, she saw a text from him telling her that he wasn’t up to it today. She could still work from home and understood that he might need an adjusting period, because based on her own experience, this was not and would not be easy. Throughout the day, she had to keep reminding herself to act like Levi and grappled continuously against her natural inclinations. Given his display at lunch and the curious stares of their friends, they were both failing miserably. Levi had seemed even _more_ irritable than usual.

When she got to their apartment, she headed straight for his bedroom to check in on him. The door was ajar, and from the threshold she could see that the room was empty.

“Levi?” she called out into the apartment.

“Hange?” replied a bewildered voice coming from the direction of the bathroom. “Hange, we have a problem.”

His declaration and the weirdness of his voice had her pulse quickening and she rushed to the bathroom, turning the handle and pushing open the door with haste. Levi was sitting on the toilet when she entered and in his right hand was a wad of tissue paper, stained with the unmistakable, bright red marker of womanhood. Thinking back to his attitude earlier, it all started to make sense, and if not for the great turmoil she could see raging behind his eyes, she would have laughed about the overarching craziness of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I just want to apologise for this hella late update. I honestly can't promise faster updates because I'm in my final year of med school, and ya girl is stressed 25/7. I hope you guys enjoy. Would love to know what you guys think. All feedback welcomed!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Menstruation frustration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy. This one likely had some mistakes. Forgive me lol

“Of course this would happen,” Levi said disgruntledly from his perch on the toilet. He had a hand pressed to his abdomen as he rode through another wave of stomach cramps- well “uterine cramps” as Hange had corrected him. This positioning was more a reflex response than a way to stave off the pain since his pain tolerance, a mental resource, was extraordinary, after all. Even so, caught unawares, he could not prevent his grimace as the first set of ass cramps kicked in.

“You okay?” Hange asked, looking over her shoulder at him, eyebrows creased in concern. He could not get used to seeing commonplace Hange expressions on his own face. He nodded in response and watched her as she continued to rummage through the cabinet over the sink. She was currently in search of pads, she had told him and the mess she was making as she toppled and displaced its contents, hurt more than the new assault of spasms that seemed to ripple through his entire abdomen.

A few more moments passed before he heard her rejoice in triumph and she came towards him with objects on display in each hand. In her left was a pad, which he recognized based on its square shape and its generic pink packaging. In her right was another packaged object with which he was not acquainted. It appeared rod-shaped and he estimated it was about 1 inch thick. He wondered about its purpose and was equally dismayed knowing he would soon intimately find out.

Wanting to get the whole ordeal over with, and having grown tired sitting on the toilet, he pointed to the object in her right hand and asked warily, “What is that for?”

There was a mischievous smile on her lips (much to Levi’s disgust) as she answered coolly, “It’s called a tampon, but let’s talk about the pad first.” She removed the white cotton pad from its pouch, and he watched closely as she peeled back the protective paper lining its adhesive portions. There was a central, rectangular cotton portion, juxtaposed on either side by extensions Hange explained were called “wings”. When she demonstrated its assembly using a clean underwear she fished from her bedroom, he was bemused.

“Wait…it absorbs the blood rather than keeps it in like a seal?” he questioned, enunciating slowly.

For a beat, Hange simply stared at him with a blank expression, and then burst out laughing, keeling over with its intensity. Levi rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“You-” she began but was interrupted by another burst of laughter. She took some deep breaths in an attempt to compose herself before continuing. “You really thought that?”

His blank stare was all the answer she needed. “No fucking way,” she said, still in disbelief.

“Can we get on with this?” he asked, irritation growing with each minute that passed. He was beginning to feel lethargic and just wanted to lie down.

“Sorry,” Hange responded, sobering up. There was a flash of guilt across her face before she continued. “You probably would not like the idea of blood being in contact with your skin for hours, so that’s where the tampon comes in.” She tore the package open to reveal a cylindrical object with an outer tube which held the absorbable cotton and an inner tube, used to plunge the cotton into one’s vagina. Levi had no delusions that this would be comfortable, but Hange assured him that it was not as bad as it seemed. Why was being a woman so uncomfortable? He lamented.

After little mental deliberation, he opted for the tampon, but decided a shower was needed first. The warm water was incredibly therapeutic and he stayed in there long after Hange announced from the hallway that she would be going to pick up a couple of things from the store.

He emerged from the shower in a plume of steam and his path to the sink was made easily identifiable by the trail of blood droplets he left in his wake. He decided he would take care of that after he tackled putting in the tampon. He fumbled with the unfamiliar contraption for a while, but after watching a tutorial on YouTube, was finally successful.

Hange still had not returned when he was finished, so he headed to his room for some much-needed rest.

\--

The apartment was quiet upon her arrival, which was the norm having Levi as a roommate. She was always the one making a ruckus much to Levi’s chagrin.

“Balance,” she had explained to him one day. “I have to counter your silence with the noise. It is called Feng Shui sweetie.” She raised his chin with her index and thumb. “Look it up.” She finished with a wink- well, she tried to, but her eyes would not cooperate.

He side eyed her and shook his head, tittering, “That’s not how that works, _sweetie_. You’re full of shit.”

“Is that why you love me so much?” she returned, smirking. He walked off, ignoring her. “Like what you like! Eat that shit up!” Hange shouted to his retreating back.

Now, she tried to make as little commotion as possible. Levi’s irritability had not yet abated and remembering the strength of his grip on her hand on the first morning, she did not want to incur any more of his wrath. She sauntered over to his door and gently knocked. There was a groan in response, followed by a muffled, “come in”.

Hange was greeted by his back, swathed in a comforter, when she entered.

“How are you?” she asked.

“Fine.”

“Doesn’t sound like it.”

A grunt.

“Fear not, Dr. Zoë is here and back on her bullshit,” she said cheerily, walking towards the bed.

He turned to face her, and she held out her the shopping bag to him. “I have just the right combo to make you feel better. Chocolate, ice cream, and me.” That at least got her a chuckle. She was making progress. Levi opened his mouth to respond but knowing he would likely reject the sweet comfort of calories, she spoke first.

“It’s my body. You can fill it up with all the shit. Plus, it really does lift your mood. There are several studies tha-”

“Shhh,” he cut her off, sitting up and shifting to the left to make space for her.

“You’ve become more sensible since being in my body, I see,” she teased, sinking into the bed next to him.

“Or more stupid,” Levi countered.

“Touché.”

She reached for his laptop on the bedside table, while he unpacked the bag of goodies. They had done this dance before, countless times when either of them had had a really bad day. They were attuned to each other’s emotions, so few words were needed. Hange loaded up a comedy and once she was able to convince Levi that she’d eat breakfast the next day, the two of them sat in Levi’s room that evening filling up on laughter and empty, but delicious calories.

\--

Sometime during the 3rd movie, Hange had fallen asleep. When it was finished, Levi gathered the empty ice cream carton and chocolate wrappers and dumped them in the garbage bin in the kitchen. He then went to the bathroom with the goal of brushing his teeth and changing the tampon, but emerged 15 minutes later, having showered too.

Back in his room, he stared at the sleeping form that was so Hange with limbs splayed in every direction like the tentacles of an octopus. His strong desire for cleanliness told him to wake her, but it fought against a greater competitor-his concern that she was not getting enough sleep- and lost. He knew she was stressed and had stayed up the night before trying her best to come up with a solution. He was aware that she had downed several cups of coffee to do it, but that had not mattered when he saw how taxing this change had been for her too. He would allow it because it was Hange and he cared intensely for her.

\--

Emerging from the depths of sleep, he slowly became aware of something poking at his back. He registered the feel of hands around him later and saw that Hange was spooning him. They were a jumble of limbs with legs interwoven haphazardly, and the covers long abandoned on the floor. He would have stayed like this for a while longer, enjoying their closeness and her comfort, but the persistent pressure in his back would not let him. What was that? He wondered. He was in the process of prying her hands off of him and turning around to find the offender, when she began to stir.

They were face to face when Hange opened her eyes groggily. When she came to, she smiled at him and opened her arms to pull him closer. He didn’t have enough time to resist and their bodies collided again.

“What the-”

“Huh.”

They said at the same time. Something hard was poking at his stomach. Hange seemed to have noticed something too. They both looked down in that moment, both silent as they stared at what was clearly an erection.

It was Hange who broke their stupor. “How do I…what do I do?” she asked, reaching her hand towards the bulge.

“Just don’t do anything,” Levi replied quickly. There were several ways to get rid of morning wood, but only one he could mentally endure at the moment. “Think about anything nonsexual and wait it out.”

“Wow, this is amazing,” Hange said excitedly, as her love of new discoveries, experiences, and the like began to kick in. “I wonder what it’s like to –”

“No,” Levi quickly stopped her. He did not want to find out where her eccentric mind taken her. “We have to get ready for our classes.” They both only had afternoon classes scheduled for that day, but he decided that 7:25AM was a good time to start getting ready.

Hange just laughed at his blabbering as she inched closer. She was about to pounce on him again, but this time he was ready to dodge her advances.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> relationships

The rest of the week was spent navigating their new bodies and unfamiliar environments with a greater effort to emulate each other’s personality this time around. They had surmised that their friends would soon find out and had even made a bet about who would be the first to. Levi guessed Erwin since he was known to have incredible deductive skills, but Hange waged all her money on Moblit, sure that Levi’s poor attitude would tip him off. The prize: a week of silence if Levi won and a trip to the Titan amusement park if Hange won.

While their friends finding out was not a cause for real concern (harassment aside), it was tantamount that anyone outside their circle did not. Hange had not disclosed the nature of her experiments with her seniors – they all thought she was working on something else. She did not know how well the idea would be accepted given its moral and ethical implications and wanted to conduct more trials before, or if, she shared it with her higher ups.

Finding time to work on a solution was proving to be equally as challenging as arriving at the solution itself. Amongst attending classes, exchanging notes, and studying, little time was left for her research, especially given that their schedules had to be in sync to facilitate their lab visits.

And on the occasions in which she did find the time, she had not made much progress. She had tried reversing the two hamsters twice more to no avail. She and Levi had even tried themselves, but a week had passed, and she was still jumping to reach the top shelf of her closet. She thought about Sawney and Bean as she finally retrieved the duffel bag from its perch on the third jump. Something had seemed off with them yesterday; they had appeared lethargic (Bean, in Sawney’s body, even more so than usual). What am I doing wrong? She chastised herself for the millionth time.

Hange shook her head, trying her best not to think about her failures, and arbitrarily stuffed clothes she hoped was clean into the bag for Levi. She had intended to pack the night before but tricked by her sleep deprived mind with the notion that a short nap was all she needed, she had collided with her mattress the moment she was home and had slept soundlessly through the night. Hurriedly packing now, she felt simultaneously thankful and guilty that she’d be spending the weekend at the beach with her friends. Tomorrow would mark the anniversary of the death of Levi’s mother and as a tradition since they were teens, the group had planned some fun activity as a means of distraction. Levi always feigned distaste, but everyone else knew better.

They planned to stay at Erwin’s parents' vacation house: a charming cottage on Paradis coast which sat a stone’s throw away from the shoreline. Hange smiled dreamily as the bright haze of happy memories lit up her mind. She recalled endless birthday parties spent at the cottage and the lifelong bonds formed amidst the youth and laughter that permeated the air. Her mind unexpectedly veered and even now, her heart raced as images of rough water and quickly curtailed enthusiasm flooded her mind. As was common with this memory, the ghost of briny seawater floated to the back of her throat. A shudder ran through her body, and she thought, not for the first time, Thank God Moblit had been there. He was always saving her from her poor decisions.

“Hange?” Levi called from somewhere in the hallway, breaking her reverie. “You ready?”

\--

“It was that one time and I didn’t have my glasses!” Hange cried from the passenger seat. “And we’re all still alive and better for it. Experiences like that builds character, four eyes.”

Levi rolled his eyes and reflexively adjusted the glasses on his nose. Hange had taken to calling him four eyes ever since the switch, explaining that it was all for “believability”. The playful glint in her eyes every time she did suggested otherwise.

“How does ending up in a ditch build character, exactly? I’m pretty sure Moblit is still traumatized.”

“Exactly,” Hange laughed.

They were in Levi’s dated Honda, on route to pick up Moblit who lived a few streets over. They had planned to meet up with the rest of the group at the beach house. Levi was currently at the helm, rationalizing that getting caught by Moblit was a better outcome than certain death if he allowed Hange behind the wheel again.

“Can we get McDonalds?” Hange asked longingly as they passed a billboard advertising a new menu item.

“No,” Levi deadpanned. “Plus, you get constipated every time you have it, and shit backs up all the way to your brain. Then you do dumb shit like have McDonalds again. It’s a vicious cycle.”

“Pfft, it’s all part of the fun Levi. Annnd I’ve got a new body. It’s a bit tiny but I’m sure Ronald laces his meals with hormones that’ll help me grow.”

Levi shot her a glare.

“You gotta learn to loosen up,” Hange responded, shimmying in the restraints of the seatbelt for effect. “Ah, I have a solution! I’ll get us both laxatives then.”

Levi couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips. It mixed with the sound of Hange’s laughter which enveloped the small space and almost drowned out the generic tones of an incoming text. It was coming from his phone. Hange stretched a hand to retrieve the device from the center console.

“Who is that?” Levi asked, deftly swerving the car onto Moblit’s street.

“Just Petra saying thanks,” Hange said nonchalantly, already tapping out a reply.

“What? Hange, why is Petra messaging me?”

“Oh, I just helped her with something. Cute girl. She seems very fond of you,” Hange responded, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“It’s not like that,” Levi retorted, shaking his head. He was aware of the admiration he received from several of his peers, and with Petra it was nothing more than respect. He felt sure of it.

“Ha. Like you would know if someone is interested in you.”

Levi was about to question her statement, but Moblit was already piling into the backseat, dragging his knapsack behind him. He didn’t have to ask anyway, because he knew what she had meant. There was an undeniable undercurrent of attraction between the two of them that neither was willing to pursue. They were attuned to each other and as best friends, their mutual allure could not go unnoticed. He could not recall when it had started or what, if anything, had triggered it. Her pull had been insidious and without warning a switch was turned on, bringing to life within him a whorl of unfamiliar emotions. Her touch was suddenly electric; her smile, already a glorious thing, became blinding; and her laugh was like listening to every good thing that was ever said to him being said all at once. One day he was enjoying being with Hange, and the next, he wanted to _be with her_.

But he never acted on these newfound emotions and neither did she. He was sure their reasons were similar. They had been best friends for a long time and the bond they’d formed over the years was too precious a thing to stake on a romantic relationship. After his mum had died and he’d moved halfway across the country, losing contact with his close friends Isabel and Farlan, he had had trouble letting people in – too afraid to endure that kind of pain again. Then there came Erwin, then Mike, then Hange, Nanaba, and Moblit. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a troop of people who were dear to him. They’d forced their way into his life, tirelessly hammering away at the walls he’d put up until there were none left. In exchange for his vulnerability, he’d gained invaluable connections. Naturally, the what ifs scared him, and he thought it would be remiss to risk these friendships for something so uncertain.

His meandering thoughts were cut off by Moblit.

“Levi!” Moblit’s voice was frantic. Caught off guard, Levi jerked his head automatically at the sound of his name, but Moblit’s alarmed gaze was being directed at Hange in the passenger seat. Subduing their natural instinct to respond to their names had been one of the greatest challenges of the switch.

“Are you really going to let her drive?” Moblit asked incredulously.

He could see the corners of Hange’s mouth quivering as she tried not to smile. Moblit, in his haze of worry, did not notice this. Hange simply shrugged coolly. Her actions had the exaggeration of a stage play actor, but she was getting better at impersonating him.

\--

30 minutes into their 2-hour journey, Hange began to feel the pangs of hunger. She had skipped breakfast again – her body choosing sleep over nutrition. She remembered the chocolate bar she had asked Moblit to bring her just as her empty stomach grumbled loudly in protest. She looked to Levi to see if he had heard anything, but his face remained trained on the road before them. The pop song currently playing on the radio had masked the sound. The last thing she wanted was another conversation about her eating habits but decided to set herself up for a similar conversation anyway when the pain was no longer bearable.

“Moblit, did you remember the chocolate bar for Hange?” she asked, trying to keep her tone as disinterested as possible. She ignored the quick questioning look Levi sent her way.

There was shuffling from the back as Moblit searched for the chocolate. “Here,” he said finally, handing the partially unwrapped bar to Levi. He returned one hand to the handlebar above the window, clutching forcefully. He was still having a hard time accepting “Hange” as their driver.

“I’ll take that,” Hange said, nimbly grabbing the package before Levi could.

Before he could say anything, the chocolate was in her mouth, melting on her warm tongue, and filling her with joy. Whatever the consequences would be, she knew this was worth it.

Another glare from Levi.

“Eyes on the road, four eyes," she said, taking another bite.

\--

It was around midday when they arrived at the house, and immediately they all felt like a weight had been lifted, if only transiently. The taste of salt in the air, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and then retreating, and the cool breeze and hot sun vying for dominance were all welcome reprieves from the stress and mundanity of university life.

Mike greeted them with mimosas and on occasions like this, even Levi would drink. Regardless of how much he consumed, alcohol never seemed to have much of an effect on him though save for an occasional, slight buzz. He would usually opt for tea since it was a less waste of calories. Erwin, ever the responsible one, rarely let himself indulge in the sweet relief of inebriation (as Hange would put it), but the others, especially Hange, made it a point to do so.

The group spent the rest of the day enjoying each other’s company, cooking, eating, and drinking while relaying recent adventures and reliving old ones. At one point, Nanaba found a ball and a bat in the attic - a relic of their teenage years when they were first introduced to the game of cricket by Erwin’s British parents. They made a makeshift wicket from some palm trees, which they drove into the soft sand, and each took turns batting, fielding, and bowling.

Running, both Levi and Hange came to know, felt different in the opposite sex’s body. The weight of Hange’s breasts lifting and falling was an odd thing to Levi, much in the same way the feel of his genitals dangling carelessly in his beach shorts was to Hange.

By 7 PM, they were all happily worn out and Mike, Nanaba, and Levi were positively drunk. Levi had overestimated Hange’s tolerance and before he knew it, he was laughing giddily and speaking nonsensically. At one point, when they were all lying on the large sunbed on the patio- staring up at the stars and pointing out patterns- his sentimentality kicked in, and he began divulging how much he loved and appreciated them all. Hange looked on from his body, amused and content, enjoying every bit of it despite her lack of drunkenness.

She and Erwin were left to clean up the mess they made throughout the day as the others drifted off to sleep. She was scrubbing at some plates and conversing with him about his family when he suddenly changed the topic.

“You and Levi switched bodies, didn’t you?”

Her hand stopped and she turned to him with a smile, impressed with her friend and ignoring the implications of his discovery. She didn’t want to think about the week of silence she’d promised Levi.

“How did you know?” she asked.

“You just smiled at me for one,” Erwin laughed. “I had an inkling given the stark contrast of your initial behaviors, but then you got better at hiding it. I still wanted to see if my initial theory was correct though. I’ve never told Levi about my great aunt’s dementia and when we were talking about my family, you asked about her.”

“You sneaky bastard,” Hange responded.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Erwin continued. He didn’t sound disappointed, just curious.

“Levi didn’t want you guys asking about his dick size,” she said, smiling. “And I thought I’d have switched us back already.” She sighed, looking down at suds sliding across the plate.

“I’m sure you’d figure it out. You always do.”

She felt overwhelmed with emotion at his small encouragement. This week had been a challenge for her and the guilt she felt was an ever present feeling she couldn’t seem to shake. A hand was on her shoulder and she leaned into Erwin, his solidity grounding her in that moment. She was beyond happy to have friends like these.

\--

The pain in her lower abdomen was persistent and she could no longer ignore it. Hange groggily got out of bed, almost falling over, but was quick enough to steady herself by grabbing onto the bedpost. Her valiant attempt to get drunk in Levi’s body had only the effect of filling up her bladder. The relief as she let it all out was heavenly. On her way back to the bedroom, through the still open balcony doors, she noticed that one body was missing from the sunbed.

She walked towards the deck and saw that both Mike and Nanaba were curled against each other, under the duvet Erwin had left them earlier. Where was Levi? she wondered.

From the glow of the light posts surrounding the house and the soft light of the moon, she was just able to make out the silhouette of a person sitting in the sand near the shoreline. She could recognise that figure anywhere; it was her body after all.

\--

Levi heard the shuffle of approaching feet before he felt Hange crouching beside him, wrapping a blanket over them both. They sat in silence for a while, staring at the moonlight reflecting on the water.

“She would be proud of you, you know,” Hange said softly, but in a tone of complete certainty that what she was saying was a fact. She let her hand find his in the sand and kept it there until the sun peaked over the horizon, slowly lifting away the darkness and filling them with hope.

\--

After dropping off Moblit the next day, they made a detour to the lab before returning home. Hange had been worried about the hamsters since she left them on Friday night. She hoped her premonition was just that: a feeling and nothing more. She punched in the passcode and entered the lab, mechanically flicking on the light switches in the anteroom as she passed. She left the door ajar for Levi, who was trailing somewhere behind her.

The first thing she noticed was the relative silence in the main room - she had always been greeted by the high-pitched squeals of at least one of the hamsters. She tried to reassure herself, maybe they were both sleeping. It was unlikely, but possible.

The second thing she became aware of as she neared their enclosures was the stench. She knew that smell all too well. It conjured a scene from her childhood of her finding her dead gerbil, Hippo, after searching the house for two days.

Given these warnings, her mind knew what to expect, but the reality was still disconcerting, and as her eyes finally came upon the lifeless bodies on the bedding, her mind and body disconnected, and she fell to her knees. The pain of the impact did not register. There was nothing else on her mind but fear and guilt for the death sentence she had brought upon not only the hamsters, but herself and Levi.

Completely preoccupied with her thoughts, she did not hear him come up behind her. She did, however, perceive his sharp intake of air, and her state of catalepsy was suddenly broken.

The pain came on then and she started to cry.

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have reservations about this chapter, but I hope you guys enjoy. Let me know what you guys think.


	6. Chapter 6

“Hange! Hange!”

She heard Moblit’s muffled cry as she tried to resurface again, kicking out to propel herself upwards. She had never been this happy to hear her name be spoken before. _Yes, yes! I’m here_ , she wanted to shout but knew that such an action would only hasten her demise. The voice became louder as her head crested the junction between sea and air and softer again as she was forced back under by the vengeful current.

Just 10 minutes before, she had been on the sand, halfheartedly listening to Moblit’s attempts to dissuade her. She had watched as the dark waves grew to grand heights and then tumble down with thunderous roars. Back then, it had enticed her – the waves at the shoreline unfurling and retreating like a hand beckoning for her to join the fray. Now, she was terrified.

 _Please_ , she pleaded with the ocean. _Please let me go_. If her supplications were heard, they were ignored because just then, the energy of the current became fiercer, tossing and wrenching her body in all directions. She was running out of oxygen and she knew it wouldn’t be long before the reflex need to breathe overcame her will to live.

 _I’m going to die_ , she thought. She tried not to panic. She thought about her family and her friends. Levi would kill her for her stupidity. She would face his wrath a million times over if it meant she could live another day. _Please._ The grumble of an engine motor cut through her thoughts and her hope reignited.

She saw a hand reaching for her and grasped at it tightly with the last of her strength. In her desperation, she didn’t notice that the hand came from below rather than above until it was too late. She was being pulled farther into the abyss and further away from the light. In its dying glow and before the darkness could fully cover them in its shroud, she looked down and caught the first and last glimpse of her captor. His face was mottled- a grotesque mosaic of dead and decaying flesh- but she could still recognize him in the contours. Staring back at her with the blank, expressionless eyes of the dead was Levi.

“Noooooooooooo!” Hange shrieked, jolting up. Blood pulsed fiercely through her head and she could feel her heart hammering against her chest.

Her eyes were open now and she could make out her overcrowded bookshelf just ahead, indicating she was in her room. Mixed with her reality, however, were overlapping images of the bruised and blotched skin of her dreams. Her hands groped for her short hair and she pulled. She closed her eyes as she shook her head, desperately trying to dispel the images, but the apparition lurked behind her eyelids too. She wanted to scream again, but stopped herself short, afraid of waking the real Levi. She didn’t want to add to the mess she had created.

Too late though. Her door swung open with a bang and he was beside her in an instant, rubbing his cool hands along the clammy skin of her arms. Slowly, the image began to fade.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” he soothed.

She wanted to disagree. Nothing was okay. They were fucked and it was all her fault. But she couldn’t look at him. She hadn’t been able to since a week ago when they’d found the dead hamsters- the catalyst for her recurring nightmares. That he could still care for and comfort her while dealing with his own despair just added to the mountain of guilt on which she now stood. It would be a far way down to absolution.

Before long, her breathing steadied and she stopped shaking. She took another deep breath before she spoke.

“I’m sorry for waking you.” Her voice was soft and wavering. God, she was pathetic.

“Don’t,” he began, wariness clear in his voice. “Stop apologizing.”

“Sorry.” The word had become a reflex in the last couple of days. She couldn’t help it. She was consumed with remorse.

Levi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The motion brought to her attention the cotton and medical tape on his forearm which covered the needlestick beneath. They had been trying to switch back every day since the new revelation and had tried switching the route of administration from inhalation to IV. It was a gamble that had cost them another day. Since the mixture of drugs would remain in their system longer, they would not be able to try again for at least 48 hours, which meant they had one more chance to reverse this curse. The reminder redoubled her guilt and she had to consciously stop herself from apologizing again.

“Thanks. Same time tomorrow?” She tried for a smile. She got up and started to walk away, heading for the bathroom.

Halfway to the door, Levi called out. “Is this how you intend to spend your last couple of days?”

There was a hint of anger in his voice. She wasn’t surprised that he was angry; she was surprised at the reason why. She turned to face him then. Dark circles shadowed his face, but his eyes were ablaze.

“I get that you feel responsible but what’s done is done Hange. We may die and you’ve been avoiding everyone.” He stood up and marched towards her. “Stop this.” He made some vague hand gestures in her direction.

She knew he was right but how could she find normalcy in a situation like this? Even if it was possible, she felt it underserved. With each day she failed to find a solution, her self-loathing multiplied. Her world was spinning again, and she felt nausea coming on. She swallowed forcibly to keep down what little she had left in her stomach before responding.

“You don’t understand. Your blood is on my hands.” She looked down at her palms and could almost see the thick, red substance slipping through her fingers. “I can barely live with-"

“Nothing has happened yet. Nothing may happen. But we don’t know. We don’t know Hange, so for God's sake, get out of that head of yours and resume living, in the event that something does happen to us.”

“I can’t Levi,” she cried. “The guilt won’t allow me to.”

A look of understanding crossed his face and his voice softened. He bowed his head in contemplation and when he looked up again, conviction was etched on his face. “So this is how you punish yourself then. Fine. Then as my dying wish, I want you to stop this.”

“I-.”

“Get ready. We’re going to the Titan amusement park.”

\--

The amusement park was a massive conglomerate of titan statues and rides that rose all around them. Hange, a huge fan of the anime on which it was based, couldn’t help her amazement. This was the closest she would get to experiencing that world and quite frankly the closest she would ever want to.

Between the enticing smell of fried foods permeating the air and the excited energy that surged through the crowd, she was able to forget their predicament, if only for a second. Gung ho patrons constantly brushed past or bumped into them, and each time, she could see a brief flash of annoyance on Levi’s face. It was the reason he hated places like this and why he had refused to take her several times before. She had lost their bet – Erwin had been the one to find out -and he knew. Yet, here they were.

She wondered how her friends were doing. Levi had made the decision to not disclose what had happened, explaining that he wouldn’t be able to stand their constant worrying, but she knew he had done it for her. Like now. She gave him a sheepish smile as another person crashed into him.

There was an overwhelming number of rides and activities to partake in, but one caught her attention almost immediately. The “Journey through the battle of Trost” ride would take them through the simulated district ridden with the enormous monsters. The mortified faces of the exiting crowd only heightened her enthusiasm.

The ride began slowly and from the speakers came the ambient sounds of everyday city bustle. They had just turned a corner when they were met head on with a titan -its maw wide open- running with full force towards them. Hange let out an excited scream which mixed with the shouts of real fear from the other riders, and just as its jaw was about to clamp down, the ride dipped, saving them from becoming titan fodder. Relief was only momentary. Not five seconds had gone by when a horde of the beasts began descending upon them from above. As a large, blood-stained hand clawed at her, Hange reflexively jerked away, turning her head to the side and meeting an amused Levi, just inches away. She could tell from his expression that watching her reaction was more gratifying than the ride itself. She let out another laugh-scream and clutched onto him as yet another titan came for them.

“Oi, I had to iron this shirt 3 times,” Levi shouted over the screams and the crescendoing battle music emanating from the speakers. “It was like the wrinkles were ingrained in it from the lack of ironing.”

“We have an iron?” Hange asked seriously. The look of exasperation he shot her answered her question. She had always wondered at how neat the clothes he would put out for her were and now she understood. Regardless, this knowledge was unlikely to make her start ironing. If she even made it past tomorrow, she thought despondently.

The guilt came on fast and she was about to retreat into her mind when the coarse hair of one of the giants brushed against her skin and she jumped, clutching onto Levi again. As she let out a loud burst of laughter, she started to forget.

\--

Hange smiled as she looked down at the photo souvenir that was taken during the ride through Trost district. She couldn’t wait to show their friends who would have a good laugh seeing Levi clutch onto her, mouth open wide in a scream.

“It says here that physical injury causes titan shifters to transform. Seems inconvenient. Oluo would be transforming every day.” Somewhere during their perusal of the park, someone had thrusted a trivia book into his hands.

She snickered, thinking about Oluo who she had come to know only recently and had seen bite his tongue at least three times since. “It’s not only the injury. The shifter must have a _clear goal_ in mind for the transformation.”

She stopped abruptly and was almost jostled from behind.

Levi, realising she was no longer beside him, stopped and looked back at her.

“What is it?”

“What were you thinking about the night we switched?” she asked as she directed them to an empty bench.

His gave her a questioning look before answering, “Well, you looked pretty stressed and I wondered how I could help.” His brows furrowed. “I thought if only I was able to take your place somehow then maybe...”

She contemplated his response for a minute. “This is a stretch but maybe it could work.” Her eyes flitted back and forth as she ran through multiple theories in her head. “I’ve been struggling to figure out a catalyst for the switch, limiting myself with what I know from Sawney and Bean. It had seemed completely random and I’ll likely never find out what cause them to switch when they did, but maybe we are different.” She spared a glance at Levi who was listening intently, but she hardly saw him. “What have you been thinking about these days? Before the switch.”

“My mind has been a jumble since. Different things, all at once. What-”

“It has been the same for me. I’ve had too many things on my mind. I don’t know if this is it but maybe, you know? Maybe it’ll work and then-”

“Hange, slow the fuck down and explain what’s going through that shitty brain of yours.”

She saw him properly then and gave him a rueful grin. “Maybe all there is to it is that at least one of us focus on a single goal. I know it sounds too simple to seem true, but it may be our last hope.”

Levi pondered over her words before responding. “Let’s do it.”

\--

They were sitting on Levi’s bed as Hange ran through the plan once more.

“We’d take the sedative first.” She held out one of the pills to him. “Then focus on a single, clear goal as you drift off and I’d start the spray at that time too.” She placed the automatic air freshener device whose cartridge she had swapped out for the elixir onto the bedside table. It would spray at intervals when they were asleep.

“How long should it take to kick in?”

“30 minutes.”

He nodded.

This was it. There were still so many unknowns, but she hoped her theory was correct. Even if it wasn’t, she prayed that some higher power would intervene and set things back to normal. If they managed to turn back, she still wouldn’t be sure of the exact mechanism of the switch unless she ran repeat trials, but she was bent on leaving this kind of experimentation behind her.

She looked to Levi whose composure eased her trepidation a little.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Whenever you are.”

She reached for the glasses of water on the nightstand and handed him one.

“Cheers,” she said, knocking her glass against his.

“To titans,” Levi said before they swallowed.

\--

It might have been the effects of the medication or the prospect of death, but as he lay beside Hange waiting for sleep to come, Levi had an epiphany. About two summers ago, he had volunteered at a nursing home where death seemed to loom at every turn. He had listened first-hand to the myriad of wishes and regrets of those on their death beds and seeing the pain and sense of loss that always accompanied them, he had vowed to be different. As it turned out, he wasn’t, but maybe in these last moments, he could change that.

“Hange,” he began, angling his body towards her.

Hearing her name, she did the same. She gave him a small smile when their eyes met. “Mmm?”

“Whatever happens, I’m proud of you. You managed to do something I never knew possible.”

Her eyelids flickered and she looked away. His eyes followed the glimmering trail of a teardrop on her cheek.

“Hey,” he said, cupping her face and thumbing away the moisture there. “These past weeks have been difficult, but when are they ever not with you?”

She let out a shaky laugh.

“It gave me newfound appreciation for you and women in general. I was horrified to learn that tampons were only invented in the nineteen thirties. Kept me up three fucking nights in a row.”

Her laughter was solid this time and she returned her eyes to his, more engaged now. They were still moist but there was light there.

“And your eyesight, goddam four eyes. No wonder you couldn’t see your way recently.”

“Ha, at least I’m able to see above five feet, shorty.” She shrugged and tilted her head to one side, doing her best to appear smug. “Where am I on your scale now?”

“You went from a five to a five point five,” he smirked.

Her mouth formed an “o” in a mock expression of shock. “On a scale of ten?”

“On a scale of a hundred,” he deadpanned.

She burst out laughing, shoulders shaking with mirth. “You ass.”

She was becoming more animated as the conversation went on, even as the medication started slowing them down. Feeling its first pull on his eyelids, he felt the urgency to get to his real point.

“Seriously though. You are incredibly smart, and I love that crazy mind of yours. When I wasn’t fighting off nausea as your body tried to adapt to the healthy food I was forcing into it, I saw how much of an impact you leave everywhere you go.”

Her breathing was slowing but she remained attentive. The smile, once he got it there, never left her lips.

“Everyone adores you Hange. I adore you.”

“Is this a confession?” she joked, but when he remained quiet, her expression became more serious as she registered that it was. 

“What do you mean?”

Even under the influence of the sedative, he could feel his heart accelerating. “I mean, when this is over, would you like to go on a date with me, four eyes?”

There was a brief expression of surprise, quickly replaced by a broad grin. It was the first time he wasn’t disgusted at the sight.

“Is it weird that I want to kiss you?” she asked, eyeing her own lips curiously.

“It’d be weird if you didn’t. I’d want to kiss you too. You have very lovely lips.” The embarrassment that followed his attempt at flirtation was instantaneous.

Her laughter shook her entire body this time. “Oh God, you suck at this. I think you should stick to the insults.” She inched closer. “May I?”

He responded by returning his hand to her cheek and gently guided her face to his. Their eyes locked briefly, and he didn’t see himself there in that instant; the expression in those eyes was all Hange and then his lips were on hers, moving slowly as they took the time to savour the moment.

When they broke apart, their eyes were lidded from an odd mixture of desire and somnolence. Unconsciousness was coming on fast and Hange was quick as she turned on the spray. Hands interlocked and with a sole goal on in mind, they fell asleep.

-

The morning sun casted the room in a soft, yellow glow and as his eyes fell upon the smooth outlines of Hange -lips slightly parted and saliva threatening to fall from the corners of her mouth- he was sure he was dreaming.

But as his vision sharpened and he became aware of his other senses, he began to realise that what he was seeing was real. He focused on the rise and fall of her chest and marvelled at the life that surged through her. They were alive.

His hand found his way to her face and he brushed aside the messy curls that had spilled from her ponytail as she slept. She began to stir then, one eye blinking open and the other slowly following. When she noticed him, a lopsided grin graced her face and rivalled the radiance of the brightening sunshine.

When full consciousness came, her eyes opened wide as realization dawned and she shot up with a gasp. He hands groped at her breasts and she let out a boisterous laugh.

“My God shorty,” she bawled, tears streaming freely from her eyes now. “We fucking did it.”

She dropped her body onto him and hugged him tightly. Levi couldn’t help the smile that crossed his lips. He didn’t know if there would be any repercussions to the switch back, and he didn’t give it much thought. What he did know and what he cared about was that he had a date with Hange.

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the end guys. If I am inspired, I'd add more to this story. Thanks for coming along on this journey with me. It has been fun. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter more than I do! Ha ha

**Author's Note:**

> feedback, criticisms, corrections appreciated!


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